Three years ago we (including a then 1 year old pup) drove up to our current home in a U-Haul and our old car. We felt excited, exhausted and a bit disoriented. I had only seen the house in a FaceTime walk through so there was anticipation too. We were greeted by our son, DIL and grandgirls who brought dinner, hugs and big smiles which was lovely. Now we have been living here for 3 years.
So how has making this house and area our home worked out?
Family - All good news on this front and this is why we moved. We really felt being a regular part of our young granddaughters' lives was important for us and hopefully for them. The time with them and big smiles and hugs when we see them is worth it all. The time and fun with our son and DIL is also a wonderful outcome as is getting to know our DIL's family better.
In addition we have happily been able to provide support to our son and DIL because we do remember the challenges of having young children, a house, and demanding careers. They have also readily helped us many times. Thankfully our older son and DIL are willing to come visit us all and encouraged the move.
Bonus: The dog is thrilled to be in a mixed age neighborhood with lots of happy people encounters and to have visits from family or time at their home.
Friends and Activities - We both feel a deficit in these areas. I have one friend with whom I've done a few things, but no regular activities other than weekly Pilates private session. Hubby now has a regular weekly session with 2 other musicians that he enjoys, but nothing else either. A work in progress.
Neighborhood, City & Services Available - We got the type of walkable and quiet area we wanted. Our neighbors are friendly and kind but not intrusive. Our son's home is literally a 10 minutes drive away. If we stay fairly local, the traffic is easy to navigate.
The small city we live in seems to be well run and the employees we have encountered are very nice. We can easily walk to city hall with questions lol. The county library system works for me. The local staff is kind and friendly, but the local library is small & old with no place to hang out and few adult activities due to lack of space. I miss my previous libraries that had lots of interesting programming.
House - Sigh. We have settled in and this house layout and size mostly works for us. Moving a lot has made us used to adapting our home to us and us to it. This is our 5th older house and it has required more work than any of the others. Still, we do like the house.
I am thankful we have been able to afford all of the repairs & improvements that we have had done. We were careful to not max out our home purchase price because we knew there would be other costs. When I list what we have done and think about all the surprises cleaning up the yard mess, it is no wonder we were stressed. We still have some lower priority things to address but are no longer feeling stressed by it.
Would we do it again? Despite the upheaval and loss of nearby close friends and enjoyable activities the move caused, we have both said we would do it again. The grandparenting and family time has been worth it.
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